


Ouroboros

by SapphyreLily



Series: KuroYaku Weekend 2017 [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, KuroYakuWeekend2017, Mythical Beings, personified night and day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 10:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11780829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphyreLily/pseuds/SapphyreLily
Summary: KuroYaku Weekend Day 1 - Day & NightNobody ever says why Day and Night keep coming and going as they do - until the cycle is broken, and you have to find outwhyall on your own.





	Ouroboros

**Author's Note:**

> I'm late oh no aaahh

Tendrils of light crawl over the horizon, splitting the darkness with spreading colour. Black speared by red, quickly spreading to orange, bleeding over the horizon.

“Do you think that Night is being taken over by Day, when it does that?”

The boy beside him hums in thought. “Then wouldn’t Day be taken over by Night at twilight?”

“Yeah. It’s like they’re in an eternal fight.”

“Hmm,” the other draws out the syllable, half-half-tilting his head to look at him. “I think it looks more like an embrace.”

“What?”

“A hug?” His friend waves his hand at the brightening sky. “Or an eternal chase, you know. Day chasing Night, Night chasing Day, but they’ll never reach each other.”

He stares at his friend, at the light getting lost in his dark hair. “You’re such a dreamer.”

“Nothing wrong with dreaming.”

“You’ll never make it, with your head up in the clouds.”

“Bah. You worry too much, Mori.”

“I’m being realistic.”

“You're an old man, is what you are. Have some fun!”

“It’s not fun if your future is at risk, is it?”

The dark-haired boy scoffs. “As sure as Day and Night exist, so do risks. Doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.”

“Don’t have too much fun, or you’ll forget yourself.”

“We’re too young to not have fun. But anyway, let’s go play!”

The sandy-haired boy gets to his feet reluctantly, shaking himself out before starting after his friend, already a ways ahead.

To their backs, light blue and fiery rays climb the sky, chasing away the encompassing Dark.

\-----

He finds himself in front of the temple on the edge of the world, the decrepit thing that used to belong to the Order that kept Day and Night separate, that kept them cycling after each other.

…it hadn’t been that long, had it?

Yet back in his hometown, back in this village, perhaps it has.

Yaku takes the first step forward, carefully balancing on the crumbling steps, and begins the ascent.

Every crack in the steps makes him a little sad, a little nostalgic.

These are the steps that he can climbed as a child, walking, then running, always, always chasing. He remembers the falls and tumbles he took as they played, as they yelled and made the priests and elders mad at them.

He smiles wryly now, and his feet are leaden, too heavy to move.

He wonders, a little, where Kuroo is.

\-----

He stares into the pool, the waterfall roaring behind him. His reflection is as messy as ever, not that he cares.

Kuroo blinks, and his reflection clears, showing him an old village, its ruins almost disintegrated, almost completely turned to dust. A bitter smile twists his lips, and he sighs. No point dwelling on the past.

But a glimpse of movement, the darting of something out of the ruins, speedily heading into the distance. He focuses on the figure, noting their build, following their movements, wondering who would walk in the devastation left behind.

It is too dark to see, and yet, it is suddenly not.

The briefest ray of light bursts through the cloud cover, hitting the figure and making them glow.

Their hair is almost gold.

His heart aches all of a sudden, and his hand shoots out, reaching for them.

His fingers break the surface of the water, shattering the image, and he loses him.

Kuroo blinks at his fingers, dripping with the last vestiges of his old friend, and slowly, they curl into a fist.

The ripples on the pool have barely quieted, but he is gone, a single wet spot on the shore to show that someone had been there.

\-----

Too many memories. Too many promises. All of them broken, broken, broken.

Just like him, just like the world around them.

Yaku tilts his head back to face the sky, scanning it for a hint of light. Real light. Not the eerie glow that the clouds give off, not the sudden bursts that sometimes follow him.

No, he’s looking for a being. The temple promised that.

_A child of Night, a child of Day._

He sees the outline of a village ahead, and his footsteps quicken.

_They will be vessels, and they will protect the endless cycle._

There is no meaning of time in their lightless world, but there is always the sense of impending doom.

_As long as they always seek and chase each other, so will Day arrive, and flee from Night._

He needs shelter for the time being, but he can resume his search in the morning.

_For them to separate is to bring doom upon us all._

He understands now. It’s about time he started chasing again.

\-----

Kuroo bends enough light from the torch outside the inn, spinning it into an image in his bowl.

The face he conjured holds together for a moment, shakily shattering apart into another illusion, the picture of a village hidden in darkness.

It’s too generic, and he almost tosses the water out, frustrated as he is.

He knows who he has to find, but how can he find him if he doesn’t have any idea where he could be?

\-----

The days are growing longer. The light grows stronger. Yaku sets out after every sleep, and heads towards the smattering of light he sees in the distance. Every waking sends him in a different direction, but it is the best chance he has.

So he steps forward, running in the direction of the strongest ray of light, running towards someone that he hopes is not running away.

They’ve run from each other long enough.

\-----

Kuroo thinks he knows when they first found out, and when they started running.

Sneaking into the temple, accidentally upsetting things and almost getting into trouble. The fight that followed, accusations thrown, and no one to mediate. One running away, one remaining.

And the next day, the Day did not come.

Morning did not come. Light did not come.

He waited, as everyone in the village did, as everyone outside the village did.

But the endless Night never ceased, save for a burst of light every now and then, and never for long.

Eventually, he left too.

He couldn’t stand the Night, and hoped that Day might be elsewhere.

He knows now, how foolish he was, how foolish they both were.

He knows now, what it meant when Day never came, because the Night had run, and Day did not follow.

(He knows the legend of the temple is true, and they had broken the cycle.)

(But perhaps, they could fix it, too.)

It has been years, he thinks, but perhaps Yaku would deign to see him, if they could only meet.

\-----

It happens all of a sudden, the crossing of paths. Yaku had been following the burst of light, this one stronger and brighter than before, and even when it had faded, he kept running.

Until he hits a wall, and falls back.

He groans and pushes himself up. He makes out the figure before him, the glow of the clouds not enough to see their face.

“Hey, sorry for running into you. You alright?”

The figure inhales sharply, and he shifts onto his knees to squint at them. That didn’t sound alright. “Are you hurt?”

“Only if an ant could hurt an elephant.”

He knows that voice.

“Ants bite painfully.”

(He can’t risk it, not yet.)

“But if it tries to be a battering ram, it is not painful at all.”

(Oh, he’ll show him _painful._ )

He jumps onto the other, knocking him back down, shaking and growling at him. “Say that again, rooster-head, _I dare you._ ”

Beneath him, Kuroo laughs, and his grip loosens a little.

(He’s missed that laugh. He never knew how much till now.)

“Yakkun, you’re as light as ever.”

“I will strangle you.”

(His hands remain still.)

Kuroo brings his hands up, gently encircling his wrists, pushing them into a sitting position. “I missed you too.”

“Liar.”

“Maybe just a little.”

The glow from above is suddenly brighter, and he can make out Kuroo’s features, bags under his eyes, face caked with sand, but still the same crinkles in the corner of his eyes.

Yaku doesn’t know if he wants to laugh or cry or slap him.

But then Kuroo tilts his head back, a small gasp escaping, and he has to look up too.

A blood-red glow from behind the clouds, gradually cutting through. The image of a black circle glowing around its edges becomes visible, and the clouds shrink away from it, its light chasing them away.

“An eclipse,” Kuroo breathes.

As awe-inspiring as it is, Yaku can’t help but ask, “Why now?”

Kuroo rolls his eyes. “You know why. You’re not dumb.”

(Yaku does know why.)

(But it’s too amazing to be true.)

“Come on. Stop staring or you’ll go blind when the sun comes out.”

It sounds improbable, but for once, Yaku listens.

\-----

As they run back towards their village, towards the temple, the first rays of light hit them.

Kuroo feels them, warm on his back, and he shivers, the eternal chill leaching out of his bones. He can see Yaku shivering beside him, and nudges him with a grin.

The brunet rolls his eyes and tries to trip him, running ahead and out of reach when Kuroo tries to get him back.

It’s an old, familiar routine, and neither of them comment on the bubble of laughter that makes its way out of his throat.

(Neither of them comment on the symbolism, of the cycle set right, in the way things should be.)

(Day chasing Night, overtaking, and then Night will chase Day.)

(Over and over and over.)

Neither of them comment, but keep running, until eventually, their temple comes into sight.


End file.
